Gods of Many Faces
by Starfire Eld
Summary: "I know how Kira kills." These are not words that Seto Kaiba wants to say, nor what L expects to hear. But with the rise of an old enemy, Seto doesn't have a choice. He will have to regroup with old allies (perhaps friends) and join the battle against Kira to save the world - and to protect those that he realizes he can't live without. Rated T for some violence and language.
1. Call

**All righty, let's start this here crossover. A few things to mention...**

**1. This happens post-series Yu-Gi-Oh, mid-series Death Note. The Yu-Gi-Oh characters are all in their early twenties, and Atem has already passed on. For example, Seto is 23.**

**2. Also, Noa Kaiba is alive.**

**3. This will feature Trustshipping. There will also be implied Peachshipping.**

**4. There will not be any crossover romances.**

**Yep, I think that's it...any questions, comments, or whatever, let me know, and please enjoy **_**Gods of Many Faces.**_

* * *

_April 8th_

_12:20 pm_

It was probably the third time the phone had rang in the past ten minutes. With a scowl and a roll of his eyes, Ukita picked it up.

"Kira investigation headquarters; how can I help you?" he said wearily.

He was expecting either: (a) someone claiming to be Kira, (b) someone claiming that they knew Kira, or (c) some hysterical person who thought they were in danger of being killed by Kira.

However, the answer was (d): none of the above.

"Is this really the Kira investigation headquarters?" a clipped, irritated tone said.

It was the tone more than anything that threw Ukita off guard. This voice sounded like it belonged in a conference room, pushing through corporation agendas.

"Y-yes, I just said so," he said.

"Really? Because I haven't picked up any transmissions entering the police headquarters in three weeks. L isn't contacting you anymore. Am I right?"

Ukita's eyes grew wider and wider as the surprisingly young voice continued.

"Or, more likely, L isn't transmitting. You are currently in _direct_ contact with L, eliminating the need to transmit the signal. So am I right in saying that police headquarters in headquarters in name only?"

Ukita's jaw slowly dropped. He regained his composure quickly, a benefit from years of police work.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" he said.

There was a brief laugh on the other end, but there was no humor in it.

"I was right, wasn't I?" he said. "I have important information for L."

"And what is this important information?" Ukita said testily.

"I know how Kira kills."

And that caught Ukita by surprise. Again, he was speechless for a moment. When he regained his voice, he spoke carefully and guardedly.

"Really?" he said. "And how is that? Or can you tell me over the phone?"

"Unless you're one hundred percent sure that the line isn't bugged, which I doubt that it isn't. Besides, what I have here needs to be shown in person, or it will be impossible to believe."

"So, what's the point in calling here at all? Why not come directly to headquarters? In fact, I can schedule an appointment for you."

An idea struck him, and he rolled with it.

"Why don't I just pencil you in for a talk with the head of the investigation?" he said. "I'd need your name and phone number."

Another short laugh, more like a sharp breath through the nose.

"Good call: testing me," he said. "But no. I doubt Kira has overlooked bugging police phones, and once you know my name, my face isn't too hard to find."

He paused, giving Ukita a second to process what he had just heard. Whoever this was, they knew the secret: Kira needed a name and a face to kill. But the method itself...did he know more than that?

"And as to your second question," the voice continued. "I called here first because I suspected that the Kira investigation was located elsewhere. Coming straight to headquarters would attract unnecessary attention, and as I've said, I'm not exactly unknown. The fewer people that know who made this call, the better."

Ukita's mind was racing now. It had suddenly occurred to him that he might be talking to Kira himself. What if he was just trying to get in with the rest of the police force in order to find out who they were and kill all of them?

He decided not to cut corners.

"All right, Mr. Mysterious," he said. "What proof do I have that _you're_ not Kira?"

A pause. Then, the voice spoke again, slowly and carefully, as though choosing his words with thought.

"I can't give you any hard evidence," he said. "All I ask is about ten minutes with a computer connected to L. I couldn't care less if I see your faces or know your names; in fact, I'd feel better interacting with as few people as possible."

This made Ukita feel only a little bit better.

"What if I didn't let you through?" he said.

A silence came through the phone. Finally,

"People are dying," the voice said. "Can you afford to pass a lead like this?"

For a moment, there was the barest trace of...what? There was something in that voice that made Ukita pause. Something like...

Fear.

Ukita sighed.

"When do you want to talk to L?" he said.

The voice became tinged with a self-satisfied confidence that made Ukita feel like puking.

"Let him pick a date and place. I'll call back next Wednesday. And tell him not to bother tracing this call. There won't be anything left to find with a radar gun in five minutes and thirty seconds."

Then the line went dead, and Ukita was left staring at a buzzing telephone. He might have been there forever, except three other phones started ringing, and he was back to work.

_April 8th_

_1:30 pm_

L dug a strawberry from his cake and sucked on it for a moment. A mysterious caller who claimed to know how Kira killed...it was an intriguing idea. He wasn't sure how it would help locate Kira himself...but if they could predict the murders in any way...or connect a certain look or habit with the killer that would make him easier to spot...

He swallowed. After another moment's thought, he scraped all of the frosting off the top of the cake and ate it all at once. The sugar helped him think.

"You're going to get sick."

L's dark eyes shifted to the relaxed form of Light Yagami. The brown haired boy was watching L with almost a contemplative gaze. There was a slight smile on his face, as though he though L's eating habits were a joke. L swallowed the frosting, considered the statement, and decided it wasn't worth answering. He went at the rest of the cake.

"Light-kun, what do you think about our mystery friend?"

Light sighed, obviously exasperated at being ignored. Then he gave serious thought to the question. L watched him carefully, as though he could read the boy's mind by staring at his eyes. It was, of course, impossible. Light's eyes were so carefully guarded that it would have taken a battering ram to his chest to get any emotions from there.

After a moment, Light shrugged and leaned forward on his knees.

"I don't think he's Kira," he said. "He specifically said he would rather not see our faces. Would Kira do that? I considered it for a while, wondering if it could be a trick to throw us off guard...but what does he have to gain? Ten minutes talking to you on the computer is not something Kira needs for his plans. And why bother revealing how he kills, unless he's trying to throw us a false lead? Kira doesn't need to give us a false lead; we're completely lost anyway. It just doesn't feel like Kira's style."

Light paused, his eyes on the ceiling.

"And if he's not Kira, then a whole new series of avenues open up. He says he's 'not exactly unknown,' which means he has a lot to risk by coming to see us in person, whether he's Kira or not. He may even suspect the police force contains Kira himself. By presenting himself to only the police force, if he ends up dying, then Kira, or a snitch, is on the police force. Either way, he reveals something about Kira. It's fairly water-tight. And someone with this much to lose doesn't come to the police with a lead. If he's not Kira, and he's not crazy, he has something real to show us."

L nodded. The same thought process had gone through his own mind. For a moment, he considered how strangely similar his and Light's thought patterns were, and then the thought disappeared as he dug back into his cake.

"So, you think we should have a chat?" he said.

Light shrugged.

"If he knows anything, we might as well," he said. "We have to wait until he calls back, though..."

His voice trailed off; his eyes narrowed slightly. L thought he knew what the boy had just thought of. L had just thought of it, too.

"If he's so concerned about a bug, why decide on a date over the phone...?" L thought out loud. "Kira could listen to the call, wait for him there, see him, kill him...and the police force would suspect each other..."

Light nodded. L had been right; the boy had also thought of the same thing. L turned the thought over in his mind a few times. His fork moved for another bite of cake, but it hit the plate, and he realized that he had finished the slice. He blinked at the empty plate for a moment. Then he got up and shuffled to the desk, where there was a jar of sugar cubes. He popped two into his mouth and sucked on them, continuing to consider the problem.

By the time he had swallowed the mostly dissolved sugar, he had figured it out.

"Subliminal messaging," he said. "He told us exactly when and where to meet."

Light jerked up, surprise registering across his expression.

"What do you mean?"

"'Let him pick a date and place. I'll call back next Wednesday. And tell him not to bother tracing this call. There won't be anything left to find with a radar gun in five minutes and thirty seconds,'" L repeated.

"You memorized it?" Light asked incredulously.

"It sounded important, at the time when I was listening in," L said, although that wasn't really an answer. "'Wednesday.' 'Five minutes and thirty seconds.' 'Radar gun.'"

"So?" Light said.

"Light-kun, you don't use a radar gun to find small things, like the remains of cell phones."

L's fingers flew across the keyboard, and a page popped up. Light hurried over, a little annoyed about being left out of the deduction. His eyes widened when he saw the site's home page.

"Radar Duelist Cafe," he said incredulously.

"Wednesday, five thirty," L said, nodding.


	2. Note

_April 10__th_

_5:28 pm_

The Radar Duelist Cafe was packed almost to bursting when L and Light slipped in. Although the other members of the police force had protested against the two of them going alone – in fact, they hadn't wanted L to go at all – L reminded them that Duelist Cafes were often packed with kids between elementary school and college age, and L and Light had the best chance of blending in. Besides, their mysterious benefactor had stated he didn't want to interact with the police force itself. Older men with police badges would not only attract attention, but might make their informant clam up.

Matsuda suggested that Light go and bring a laptop that L could communicate from. But for reasons unknown to them, L had been insistent on going in person. They were at that point in the investigation – a desperate point.

So here they were at the Radar Duelist Cafe. It was a large, open building, with booths in reds and blues lining the walls by the windows, a long bar-type counter on the other side, and round tables with tall chairs filling in the spaces in the area to the left of the door. Towards the right of the door were the invention known as Battle Boxes. Large, glass-walled cubes with tables at the center, they were cutting-edge holographic technology used to play a card game called Duel Monsters. Most of them were in use now, with groups of people surrounding them who were either cheering or waiting for their turn. Holographic monsters crawled around inside the boxes, so realistic that Light hesitated for a moment. L smiled slightly at this, and pushed into the crowd towards the counter.

The noise was so constant and loud that the two had trouble making themselves heard.

"Ryuzaki, how did you even know about this place?" Light asked, using L's outside name.

L shrugged.

"There was once a case involving the Kaiba Corporation Battle Boxes," he said. "The creator of the card game Duel Monsters, Pegasus J. Crawford, was found dead inside one of them. His false eye had been torn out and he had died of blood loss. It was eventually determined that the box wasn't the cause, and the death was labeled a suicide. I only helped a little on the case, but I was interested in the technology, which led me to the game..."

He trailed off long enough to order three brownies, a chocolate milkshake, and a slice of apple pie off the menu. Then he turned his eyes back to Light.

"I played it a couple of times. It was fun," he said. "But I lost interest. I knew about this place because supposedly, this is the one Duelist Cafe that Seto Kaiba makes a regular appearance at."

"Seto Kaiba? You mean the owner of Kaiba Corporation?"

"Yep."

L paid for and took his desserts. He started to sip at the milkshake, but found it too solid to come through the straw. So he pulled off the top and dipped his brownie in it instead. Light rolled his eyes.

"Almost...five years ago, I think, Seto Kaiba started making regular appearances at Duelist Cafes. Dueled just about anybody that wanted to face him; it was sort of a publicity stunt, I guess. But that slowed down, and he only comes here now."

"Why do you know all of this?"

"I read a lot of news."

Light shrugged. L finished off his second brownie and started on the apple pie.

"Where do you think our caller is?" Light said, checking his watch. "It's five thirty one."

"Hm, that's right, we didn't have any kind of sign to know each other by..." L said.

He glanced around the room, trying to imagine what their prospective informant might identify himself with. All of the tables were full, and everyone seemed to be part of a group. There was a lot of laughter and even some shouting. No one appeared to be waiting for anyone else. He turned his eyes to the booths that lined the edge of the Battle Box area. It was difficult to see from the counter, and he picked up his last brownie and milkshake.

"Let's check the Battle Boxes," he said.

Light nodded.

They came around the corner, sneaking through clumps of younger kids shouting about this and that, L heard pieces of 'hah, I activate a trap card!' and 'defense position monster' and 'quick-spell' and all other sorts of Duel Monsters lingo.

His eyes were still searching for any sign of their informant. Could it be that he had misinterpreted the message? Or found meaning where there was none?

A glint of light across metal caught his eye. He followed the motion casually – then stopped. Light bumped into him from behind and L lost some of his milkshake to the floor.

"What's wrong..." Light said.

L didn't listen. He was looking directly at the boy that sat at that table.

The light had come from a glint across a metal suitcase that sat beside the tall, lanky figure. Although he was sitting down, L could tell instantly that the boy was taller than him, and even Light. His brunette hair had been allowed to grow slightly longer in the back, but it was carefully combed to give him a very clean cut look. He wore a long white jacket over black pants, and the jacket itself looked custom made – in fact, it probably was. The letters KC were emblazoned on the front lapel. For a moment, L was stunned at how similar this boy and Light looked. Then he was stunned with the realization that he was looking at Seto Kaiba.

He hesitated for a moment. The boy was not sitting alone, although his straight-backed, stiff pose and scowling face made it seem that he wished he was. He was barely sitting on the seat, nearly pushed off by the other two figures in the booth beside him. One was a blond-haired, lanky young man with a somewhat over exaggerated grin. The other was a young woman with a brown bob, who looked somewhat disgruntled about being stuck in between them. She half leaned across the table in order to talk to a young man with a brown buzz-cut, another man with white hair and effeminate features, and a young man with the craziest hair L had ever seen. It had to be three different colors, black and spiky with red highlights and sharp blond bangs.

Suddenly, the boy with tricolored hair paused in his cheerful conversation. Violet eyes swept the room for a moment, and then returned to Seto Kaiba. Although too loud to hear from this distance, L was well practiced in reading lips.

_I think they're here,_ the boy said.

Seto Kaiba stiffened further. The others stopped in their conversation. He, too, swept the room with a piercing blue gaze. Only, his eyes fell directly on L, and their gazes met with such force that L almost gasped.

He wasn't sure how they both seemed to know, but they had both realized, at the same time, who they had been waiting for. It made sense, now that L thought about it. The clipped, business-like tone...the Radar Duelist Cafe...'not exactly unknown'...

Seto Kaiba raised his eyebrows, and nodded towards an empty Battle Box. L nodded back. Light, who had been watching the exchange with an incredulous expression, looked sharply at L.

"Him? Is he the one?"

"Yes. Know him?"

"Seto Kaiba," Light affirmed. "But him? What would he know?"

L shrugged. Seto Kaiba picked up his suitcase and started to walk towards the Battle Box. The people at his table watched him go somewhat worriedly, and then leaned in to chatter to one another about something. The grins, however, had disappeared.

"There?" Light said, noting the transparent Battle Box. "But won't everyone see us there?"

"It's Seto Kaiba at a Duelist Cafe," L reasoned. "No one will expect anything odd. We'll hide in plain sight. I'm actually impressed. He knows what he's doing."

They wove through the crowd, reaching the box at about the same time as Kaiba. He met both of their eyes briefly, raising his eyebrows slightly, and then entered the Battle Box. L and Light followed and closed the door behind them. Kaiba circled the table and set his suitcase down beside him. He took a seat. L and Light followed suit.

"Well," L said. "I have to say, I'm surprised."

"I figured L would be smart enough to figure my message out," Kaiba said. "And if he wasn't, then there wasn't any point in working with him."

L inclined his head slightly.

"We're –" Light started, but Kaiba glared at him.

"I don't want to know your names," he said. "If you two die, it won't be my fault, then."

His harsh blue eyes glared at them for a moment.

"So, am I in any way in contact with L?" he asked.

L nodded.

"L is listening," he said, although he didn't quite identify himself as L.

Kaiba nodded curtly, obviously satisfied. L glanced out at the people taking interested glances towards them, and realized for the first time that the noise outside seemed muted. Kaiba seemed to notice the glance.

"The Battle Boxes are sound-proof," he said. "I also took the cameras out of all of the boxes about two years ago. The only recording device in here records the cards played on the Duelist tables. Nothing to prove anything that was said."

L nodded. He expected as much from the man that had managed to send such a well-crafted message to him. Kaiba, too, glanced out at the crowd. Then he reached for his suitcase and clicked it open.

"Do you play Duel Monsters?" he said.

Light seemed about to answer testily, but L cut him off.

"Yes. Only a few times, though. I brought an old deck of cards, in case."

Kaiba nodded absently, and removed his own deck from his suitcase.

"Excuse me, Kaiba-san, but we don't exactly have time for this," Light said. "Could you just tell us what you brought us here for?"

Kaiba looked narrowly across at Light. He started to shuffle his cards with quick, precise fingers.

"We're sitting inside of a Battle Box in the middle of a Duelist Cafe," he said. "What do you think people are going to say if we just talk? You don't have to actually play, just pretend."

He half-smirked.

"I could probably beat both of you in a couple of moves, anyway. At the same time."

"I wouldn't be so sure," L said, setting his own stack of cards on the table.

Each drew five cards and looked at them for a moment.

"So, what exactly have you brought us, Kaiba-san?" L asked. He glanced up at Kaiba to see who would be going first, and Kaiba simply raised his eyebrows back. L took the hint and placed a card face down in front of him.

"I'll keep it as brief as possible," Kaiba said.

He slid a monster onto the field, and the Battle Box whirred to life. Instantly, a bipedal, armored ox appeared behind Kaiba, blowing steam into the air. Light glared at it.

As L drew a card and stared at his options, Kaiba leaned under the table for his suitcase again. He fiddled with a second set of latches, and a secret compartment on the outside popped open. He drew something thin and black from within and shut the compartment. In the meantime, L slid a face-down monster onto his side and waited. The table wasn't very long, so Kaiba handed the object to L underneath it. L received the item and drew it up to look at it.

It was a rather ordinary looking notebook. Black in color, it seemed a bit tattered and smelled like earth. In fact, there was a smudge of dirt on the front cover, covering up one of the white letters. The title, however, was still readable.

"Death Note?" L read aloud.

He glanced over at Light. For a moment, L thought he saw a flash of something in Light's eyes, but on closer consideration, it was simply one of the lights from a nearby jukebox. The boy shrugged. L flipped open the cover. The inside cover was blank as well, but, on the very first page of the notebook, a brief paragraph had been written in a neat hand.

L glanced up at Kaiba. Kaiba shrugged.

"I brought the damn thing so you could look at _it_, not at me," he said.

He pushed a magic card onto the field, attached it to his ox monster, and attacked L's face down monster. A fluffy pink blob called Marshmelon popped upwards on the field and bit the ox. The life point meter on Kaiba's side dinged as the numbers went down by 1000. He scowled at the bouncy pink creature.

L read the notebook. The first paragraph or so was a meandering, journal-like passage written in a child-like but careful hand.

_I don't know why I'm writing in this thing. There's nothing about my hell-hole of a life that I really need to write about. But I'm sure my bastard of a step-father wouldn't like me having a secret journal, so I guess I'll do it just to spite him. There's really nothing to write about, though. Genevieve Parkinson, the new gardener, brought muffins for me and Moki again. I'm glad she's secretive about it, because the Bastard would probably fire her or worse if he knew. Kazuma Kirisoto, the butler, wouldn't stop complaining about having to the clean the windows since the normal guy got sick. He's scared of heights, he says, and he's convinced that he's going to fall and break his neck_

The writing stopped abruptly. At the bottom of the page, a few lines down, an extremely shaky hand had written:

_Gozaburo Kaiba_

_May 16__th__ 6:34 pm_

_Commits suicide by jumping out of the twentieth floor of Kaiba Corp_

Nothing more was written. L flipped through the rest of the book, but all of the pages were blank. He considered what he had read for a moment. Gozaburo Kaiba was the adoptive father and previous CEO of Kaiba Corporation. He had been a ruthless businessman and there had been unconfirmed reports of illegal actions, like selling weapons to blacklisted organizations. He had, in fact, committed suicide...by jumping out of the twentieth floor of Kaiba Corporation...on May 16th...

He glanced across to Kaiba. The brunette was waiting with a disgruntled look in his eyes. L set the notebook down, selected a card, and set another face-down monster.

"Well?" Kaiba said.

He, too, drew a card. He set a magic card on the field and Marshmelon was destroyed.

"I could ask you that," L said. "What does this mean?"

Kaiba's knuckles had gone white on the table. He summoned a creepy looking clown sitting cross-legged, and then attacked L's face down monster with his ox. L placed his hamster monster in the Graveyard and then, with its effect, summoned another face-down hamster monster on the field.

"It means I killed Gozaburo Kaiba," Kaiba said. "And I'm pretty sure this is the same method that Kira is using."

L blinked.

"You mean...writing a name and time down?"

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Kira had once killed a single person on every hour to break the theory that he was a student. If he was still writing names at the same time each day but changing the times...

"I don't know the exact rules of the notebook," Kaiba said. "But, write a name down in it, and the person dies of a heart attack. Write a time, date, and reason for death, and they die just how it's written. According to the information I've gathered about the Kira case, you need to know the face of the victim, too. And it has to be a real, full name. Nicknames don't work – otherwise, my brother would be dead, too."

"You're not possibly saying that writing someone's name down magically kills them," Light said.

The idea sent a nervous shudder down L's spine. This magic stuff...it had always worried him in ways he couldn't explain.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Kaiba said tensely.

"You killed Gozaburo..." L said thoughtfully. "Why?"

His dark eyes met Kaiba's fierce blue ones. For a moment, apprehension flashed across normally confident features.

"I don't exactly make this public, but Gozaburo was a monster," he said. "He would force me to study until I dropped from exhaustion, and then drag me across the floor by the hair to wake me up. He once slammed my younger brother's head through a plaster wall because he happened to be in the way. And probably every single damn rumor you've heard about him is true."

Kaiba paused, obviously trying to regain his composure.

"I was twelve. I found a pile of ashes outside in the garden. There was a notebook sitting in it. That one," he said, nodding at it.

L nodded, listening as he placed another face-down card on the field. Kaiba swept away the two traps with one of his own with barely a pause in his speech.

"I took it home, found it blank, and started writing some kind of diary in it," he said. "About a minute later, I saw Genevieve collapse from my window. After calling for help for her, I heard that Kirisoto had fallen from a ladder and broken his neck. That's when I figured out how it worked."

L nodded. He attack Kaiba's clown with an upgraded Kuriboh, and a virus card made him get rid of his monsters 1500 attack points or higher. He only had three monsters higher than that and discarded them without blinking.

"So what did you do then?"

"I was barely a teenager and I had just killed two people – I was terrified of the damn thing," he said. "And if my step-father found it... But I was even more afraid of what might happen if I tried to destroy it. When I was twelve, I was convinced destroying it would kill me. I still don't know what would happen."

He summoned a face down monster. L destroyed it with an acid pit trap.

"So I hid it inside a book and stowed it on the highest shelf in the library. I forgot about it."

"Until later," L said.

Kaiba's lips tightened.

"Gozaburo meant to turn me into a monster, and he just about succeeded," he said bitterly. He killed L's last hamster. "I tried to commit suicide. He stopped me, and beat me after that. He beat Mokuba next. Once I recovered enough, I went back to the notebook and killed him."

"But you didn't use it after that," L said. "Why not?"

Kaiba glanced downward, pretending to look at his cards, but really hiding his fear from L. L caught the expression, but didn't say anything.

"I kept it, thinking I might use it again," he said. "But I always ended up wanting to best others myself. And...dammit, I was scared of it. I wasn't much older than fourteen, fifteen. Later, I buried it. After a while, I completely forgot about it."

L nodded slowly.

"But then..." he said.

"I'll admit, I've been very busy lately," Kaiba said. He summoned another face-down monster and ended his turn. "I might not have even heard about the Kira case; I haven't paid too much attention to the news. And once I heard about it, it took a lot of convincing for me to realize that it could be the same method. I thought someone had found my old one, and I went to dig it up."

"Even so, why bring the notebook to us?" Light asked. "If what you're saying is true, we'll have to arrest you for the murder of Gozaburo Kaiba."

Kaiba looked levelly at Light. For a moment, those two very similar faces glared at each other. Then Kaiba turned to address L's new series of Kuriboh monsters by dispatching them with a simple spell card.

"I probably wouldn't have," Kaiba said. "In fact, I'm starting to wish that I didn't. But I'll be frank: Mokuba is getting scared. He seems to be under the impression that Kira might go after me. The constant news coverage of it is getting to him."

He clenched his fists on the table.

"Nobody hurts my brother," he said, and the fury coursing through his voice was startling. "Mentally, physically, emotionally – no one touches him. And if Kira thinks he can do that to my brother, well he's got another damn thing coming."

The moment of fury passed, and he seemed to return to his calmer disgruntlement. L considered this for a moment. Kaiba was an intelligent young man, with resources, talent, and connections. From what L knew of him, he could be a ruthless businessman if the need arose. L had simply thought of him as another CEO, willing to do what it took to reach the top.

But he had this weapon of mass destruction in his hands, and he refused to use it. There was a strong moral code inside him despite his cold demeanor. And L could not remember the last time he had met anyone with a protective streak as hard and enduring as Kaiba's. This Mokuba seemed to mean everything to Kaiba. It was intriguing.

This man was risking everything, death by Kira, arrest for murder which would lead to public humiliation and possible loss of his company, all for the sake of a younger brother.

"Your act of murder was done in haste, in a young, unstable state of mind," L said, summoning another fluffy looking monster. "I doubt we'd be able to find much evidence against you. Besides, if this notebook can do what you say, I think we'd have trouble finding anything to convict you with. So I won't be pursuing that."

There was a trace of a sardonic smile on Kaiba's face as he studied L's moves on the field. Light was glaring at L, obviously not agreeing with a word that was being said, but not quite willing to speak yet.

"This is certainly helpful," L said, picking up the notebook. "Now we know what to look for. Although, we'd have to find some way to test it...on someone already sentenced to death, of course."

Kaiba shrugged, as though he didn't care.

"Just take the damn thing," he said. "I'd rather not look at it ever again."

"You trust us with this?"

"I trust _you_ with this," Kaiba said, directing the comment at L. "Normally, I despise relying on gut reactions, but I don't have much of a choice right now. Besides...I had a second opinion on you already."

L was curious about this second opinion, but doubted Kaiba would tell him. He nodded quietly, and tucked the notebook into his jacket pocket.

"Anything else?" he said.

Kaiba shook his head curtly.

"Then we should finish this duel."

"My thoughts exactly."

Kaiba was about to pull a card from his hand when there was a knock at the window. All three turned to glance, and found the young man with tricolor hair looking through the window, a nervous glint in his violet eyes. His gaze met Kaiba's, and he gestured toward the Cafe front. Kaiba's gaze wandered through the crowd and obviously saw nothing, but there was a sudden tensing in his knuckles.

"I'll finish this quickly," he said. "Thanks for the time."

There was something sardonic and confident in that last comment that let L know Kaiba had drawn the card he wanted. He swept his two monsters off the field to replace it with a Blue Eyes White Dragon. Instantly, the dangerously beautiful being appeared and decimated L's remaining Kuriboh. L's life point counter dropped. Before it had reached zero, Kaiba had stood up, scooped up his cards and suitcase, and strode purposefully from the Battle Box.

He closed the door behind him, appeared to talk with the other man for a moment, and the two walked away and disappeared into the crowd. L watched them go thoughtfully.

"Are you sure we can trust this?" Light said.

There was an unnatural edge to his voice that made L look at him. Light seemed as impassively difficult to read as ever.

"Trust what?"

"He practically admitted to murdering someone in front of us. Can we trust him?"

L shrugged. Light was probably irritated about working with someone like this. His ideals and sense of justice were far different from L's own.

"Might as well. We don't have any other leads," he said.

He could feel the weight of the notebook against his chest, and it felt strangely cold and unnatural. He knew the feelings were completely in his head. They had to be. Right?

"Let's go," he said, gathering up his cards. "There's nothing more to do here."

As they exited the Battle Box, L lazily studied the crowd around them. He wondered what had made Kaiba leave so suddenly, or caused the nervousness in the violet-eyed boy.

For a second, he caught the glimpse of something white. It stuck out among all the colors, and L paused to look at it.

It was only a moment. It was hard to tell if he had imagined it or not. But although the probability that he had actually seen something was only five percent, he could not help but trust his instincts. For a moment, he had seen a fair, slender boy snaking through the crowds of people, long white hair falling creamily down his back...it was just another kid, he shouldn't have attracted L's attention...

But there was a feeling, creeping down his back that told him that not everything was as it should be...

**A/N: Just a note to go along with this chapter...Seto's Death Note doesn't have the instructions in it. Light's Death Note only had directions because Ryuk wanted a human to know how to use it, and so wrote them inside the cover. It's unlikely another Shinigami would have written instructions they already knew in their own Death Note. When a Shinigami dies, they become ashes, and the Note is left behind, and that's how Seto found his. This is confirmed by Rem, when Light took her Death Note after her death. Her personal Death Note didn't have the rules inside either. I think that's all I have to say...questions, comments, reviews, even complaints, whatever, leave 'em if you've got 'em.**


	3. Why

_April 10__th_

_6:32 pm_

"How did it go?" Yugi asked.

The sun was starting to stay in the sky longer. Despite the hour, the light still glowed throughout the city. Yugi and Seto walked down the sidewalk – everyone else weaved around them. Few people didn't recognize Seto in this city, and few people wanted to run into him.

Seto's lips tightened, wondering why Yugi was still walking with him. He knew as well as Yugi did that Yugi's house was on the opposite side of town from his own. The rest of the geek squad had already filtered away to do whatever it was that geeks do.

"It went fine," Seto said.

He planned to leave it at that. Yugi wasn't easily dissuaded, though.

"He believed you?"

Seto groaned mentally. He didn't need an interrogation right now.

"Yes. So he'll take the information back to L, and everything can get back to normal."

He emphasized the word "normal," hoping Yugi might take the hint. Yugi slowed for a minute, looking thoughtful. Seto kept his pace, so that Yugi had to catch up to him to say his next sentence.

"I think that was L. The boy you talked to. It was him."

Seto stopped dead in the street. He glanced over at Yugi.

Not for the first time, he was struck by how much Yugi had changed in such a short time. The twenty-two-year-old was almost as tall as he was now. He didn't have to look very far down to meet Yugi's violet eyes. There was still a hint of roundness to his face, but overall, the child-like baby fat had fallen away. Seto almost imagined he could see faint muscle tone in his rival's arms. Who would have thought_ Yugi_ of all people would have muscle tone?

"That was L, huh?" he said. "What makes you think that?"

Yugi pushed his hands into his pockets. He looked away from Seto, his eyes scanning the people that passed around them. His eye twitched, as though a headache had just pained him.

"You know, this is hard to get used to," he said. "You'd think after five or so years, I'd have figured it out."

"Your 'sight' thing?" Seto said dubiously.

"Yes, my 'sight' thing," Yugi said, returning his gaze to Seto. "Seeing people's souls is not all its cracked up to be, you know? I keep forgetting how to turn it off."

Seto studied Yugi for a moment. Then he shook his head.

"I still don't believe that you can see auras," he said.

"Soul, not auras. Two different things. But you trusted me when I said you could trust that boy."

"The one you claim is L."

"He has a strong soul. Those with evil intent have more twisted souls."

Seto scowled.

"I'm starting to regret telling you about all of this. I could have just talked to L by myself, you know."

Yugi smiled, but it turned into a little more of a grimace.

"You and I both know why you didn't."

A short silence passed between them. The sun was starting to disappear for real now, and a soft, cold breeze settled in around them. Seto shifted his grip on his suitcase.

"So you sensed him, in there. He was there. Probably watching us."

It wasn't really a question. Seto knew better than to think Yugi might have lied. He glanced at the younger man's expression. Yugi had gone slightly white, and his lips tightened.

"Yes."

"He really is back, then."

"Unfortunately."

Another beat passed.

"What about...the other one. The other you."

Yugi shook his head.

"_He_ used dark magic to come back. The other me passed on. For good. There's no going back."

Seto's grip tightened on his suitcase at the words 'passed on,' but he tried to hide the emotions from his face.

"Fine. Well, L has the Death Note now. Kira will probably be caught in a matter of weeks if L's as good as I think he is. Then all the Death Notes will probably be destroyed, and there won't be a problem anymore."

He straightened and started walking again. Yugi hurried to catch up.

"That's it? You're just going to leave it at that?"

"I thought we talked about this already."

"Getting rid of the Death Notes is not going to get rid of him, and you know it."

"And _I _have a company to run and a life to live. I don't have time for adventures anymore. I'm sure you and the rest of the geek squad can handle it."

Yugi stopped walking. Seto didn't stop to look at him. He just tightened his hands and walked a little faster.

Yugi's voice carried over to him.

"He's not just going to leave you alone, Seto. You may continue to deny it, but you had a part defeating him in the first War of Shadows – and he remembers it."

* * *

_April 11__th_

_3:21 am_

The computer screen flickered to life. L roused himself instantly from a half-doze – more like a stasis period, really. He slipped out of his chair and slouched over to the desk, where he crouched on top of the swivel chair instead.

"Watari? You have results?"

The screen crackled for a minute before a voice came through the speakers.

"I'm afraid so. The Death Note is real. It was tested on several death row inmates. Everything is as Mr. Seto Kaiba stated."

L's lips tightened. He clenched his hands on his knees.

So the Death Note was legitimate. Kira's power had been discovered.

_It's only a matter of time now, Kira._


	4. Worry

_April 11__th_

_4:35 pm_

"And the confirmed death toll has now reached about two hundred and fifty, although many experts believe the true numbers are being kept confidential by the task force..."

Seto hit a button on his desk to turn off the television. Mokuba craned his neck around.

"Hey, nii-chan. I was watching that."

"You're just going to worry yourself sick again," Seto said. "I don't want you missing anymore school."

He glanced dubiously at his younger brother.

"Shouldn't you have cram school, anyway?"

"I didn't enroll. You know I don't need to."

"An attitude like that is going to get you nowhere."

Mokuba shrugged. Seto rolled his eyes.

"Don't come crying to me if you fail your entrance exams."

Mokuba remained on the couch for a few more minutes while Seto looked back down at his computer. In the past couple of years, Seto had started to enjoy his home office a lot more than the one at Kaiba Corp. The Kaiba Corp office was cold and flat, with sharp edges and hard, uncomfortable chairs. As a teenager, he had liked the way it made him feel powerful, like he was superior to anyone that walked into that room of points and edges. But the view of Domino City from sixty floors up could only be so interesting, and he was losing his taste for sharp edges. His home office was altogether more welcoming. It room had once just been as hard edged as his company office – it had belonged to Gozaburo, after all. But Seto had completely redone the room to erase all traces of his stepfather. Now, it was thickly carpeted, with shelves of books he never had a chance to read framing the bay windows out to the garden. Mokuba had asked to have the couch put in there when he was ten. He would watch television while Seto finished extra work. It used to be cartoons.

Now it was just the Kira reports.

Mokuba pushed himself off the couch.

"Fine, I'll go watch in my room," he said.

"You'll do no such thing."

"Hey, I'm just trying to keep up on current events."

"You're trying to worry yourself into a frenzy. For the last time, Kira is not going to try and kill me."

Mokuba shrugged almost uninterestedly, but his lips tightened with a hint of fear. Seto only caught this out of the corner of his eye. He looked up from his computer screen.

Yugi wasn't the only one to have changed dramatically in the past seven years. His own brother had shot up to nearly Seto's height, although his weight didn't seem to have caught up. He was skinnier than stalk of grass. His black hair, once as long as his waist and somewhat untamed, was now only shoulder length and held back with a slick ponytail. Seto never understood that ponytail. It made his brother look like a girl – but Mokuba seemed intensely proud of it, as well as his newly pierced ear. Seto shook his head. Well, it really wasn't his business what his brother did or wore, even if it did irritate him a little.

"How do you know?" Mokuba said. His voice cracked somewhere in the middle, going a bit deeper than usual. "Kira's killed a couple of big businessmen."

"If this is about Kuze from Yamashita and Sons..." Seto started.

"He was one of your partners."

"And he also went to jail for embezzlement. Kira didn't kill him until after that."

"But some of the policemen thought you were in on the embezzlement."

"Without any proof whatsoever. Kuze was just one person in thousands of contracts. Kira has too many legitimate criminals to kill. He's not going to waste his time with me."

_Unless he knows I had a Death Note, and gave it to L,_ he thought, but he knew better than to say that aloud. Even Mokuba didn't know about the Death Note or the truth of Gozaburo's death yet.

"You're not going to worry yourself over the Kira case, and that's final, Mokuba," Seto said.

Mokuba opened his mouth to say something else, but Seto cut him off.

"Go do your homework. If you're not going to cram school, you're going to have to be even more on top of your grades if you want to get into a university."

Mokuba's fists clenched for a moment. He seemed about to insist on staying put and continuing the conversation. Then he shook his head and stomped towards the door. It opened before he got there. He and Noa almost collided, but Noa hopped out of the way. Mokuba barely even looked at him.

Seto shook his head. Dammit. Mokuba was going to give himself a fever again with all this worrying.

Noa entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Why do you always assume that I've done something wrong?"

"Because that's the way you are."

Seto growled under his breath. The last thing he needed right now was Noa jabbing at him.

"What do you want?"

"I fixed the problem with the mainframe. It wasn't a virus, just a glitch."

Seto glanced up. Noa was standing in front of the desk now, with a sheaf of papers in one hand.

"And I finished proofreading the calculations for the new holographic systems. Also, your secretary messed up the finance report again. We're going to come up short on the new addition to KaibaLand."

Seto nodded and took the papers. He riffled through them, taking the longest time looking over the calculations.

"Good," he said, standing up. "Thank you."

Noa half-smiled, and Seto's lips tightened. He hated it when Noa got that self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"So what happened with you and Moki?" he said.

Seto shook his head. He slid the papers into his file folder. When he stood up again, he sighed.

"He's been watching the Kira reports again."

"Thought so."

Noa hadn't hit the same intense growth spurt as Mokuba, but he was still taller than Seto remembered. Even seven years later, it felt more than strange that Noa was really there, a physical form in front of him. Seto wasn't even sure how it had happened. When Ryo Bakura brought him over the first time, he had refused to explain where Noa had come from. Damn Yugi and his friends and their insistence on being mysterious.

Noa sighed and leaned against the back of the couch.

"He's really worried about you, you know."

"I'm not blind."

Noa met Seto's eyes full-on.

"And I don't particularly want you to die, either."

Seto smirked.

"Glad to know you care."

_Brring, brring._

Both boys glanced at the phone.

"Expecting a call?" Noa asked.

"I told Tachibana I wasn't taking calls," Seto said. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Must be important if she let it through."

Seto considered ignoring it. It was a tempting idea. He shook his head, and reached for the phone.

"This is Seto Kaiba. You'd better have a damn good reason for calling."

"Nice to hear you too, Mr. Ray of Sunshine."

Seto blinked.

"Oh. Ishizu."

He glanced at Noa, planning on shooing him away. But a strange smile had crossed Noa's face. Seto looked at him, confused. Noa just shook his head. He waved cheerily and left the office. Seto watched him go. What was wrong with him?

"Don't sound so happy to see me, Seto," Ishizu said, the hint of a laugh at the back of her voice.

"What do you want?" Seto said, leaning back against his desk. He tried to do some calculations in his head. What time was it in Egypt? Almost ten in the morning, he thought. No wonder she sounded so annoyingly chipper.

"Is it a crime to want to talk to a friend?"

Seto rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see him.

"When I'm about to keel over from exhaustion, yes."

Ishizu laughed softly. Seto shook his head, but a sardonic, half-smile grew across his face.

"Okay, explain. How did you convince Tachibana to let your call through?"

"I didn't. I just told her that I was a friend, and I wasn't calling you on business matters. She seemed quite happy to put me through. She sounds like a nice girl."

"She's too cheerful."

"I think you need a little more of that."

Some of the tension leaked from Seto's shoulders. He turned around so that he could sit back in his chair.

"How are your brothers?" Ishizu asked.

"Mokuba's worrying himself too much. Noa's being as insufferable as ever."

Ishizu laughed again.

"What?" Seto said.

"You know, a few years ago, you got angry when I said 'brothers', plural," she said. "It sounds like Noa's really your brother now, if he's being insufferable."

"Stepbrother."

"But you're acknowledging him."

Seto shook his head in exasperation.

"What about _your_ brothers?" he said, trying to change the subject.

"Marik was accepted to graduate school."

"Good for him."

"Rishid's still working on the Egyptian Board of Antiquities with me."

"Pft. As if that would change."

A silence grew on the telephone for a moment.

"Ishizu, what's wrong?" he said.

"What?"

"Don't play stupid. There's been a crack in your voice ever since you said hello. You called for a reason."

Another brief pause passed between them.

"All right. I'm getting worried," she said.

"About what."

"Kira."

Seto groaned.

"Not you too."

"Seto, I think this is a lot more serious than the news is saying," she said.

"You and everyone else I know."

"You mean Yugi?" Ishizu said, sounding a little surprised. "Is something going on there?"

Seto wiped a hand across his face. He was so tired...and it was barely even five o'clock.

"Yugi said that Bakura is back."

Ishizu's sharp intake of breath scratched across the phone line. Seto closed his eyes. Great. Now she was going to freak out, too.

"I'm getting on the next plane to Japan."

"No, you're not."

"I don't recall you being in charge of my life, Seto."

Seto tightened his hand on the phone.

"Fine, do what you want. But you, Yugi, and everyone is blowing this completely out of proportion. Kira's going to be caught in a few weeks, and then none of this is going to matter anymore."

"But this is about the Death Note, isn't it?"

Seto's jaw clenched. He was severely regretting telling anyone about the Death Note, but none more than Ishizu.

"Yes, it's about the damn Death Note. But L's got it now. There's nothing to worry about."

"Except the Death Note that Kira has right now, isn't that right?"

"Dammit, why is everyone so worked up about this? Kira will go to prison, and this whole damn thing will blow over."

Ishizu didn't answer for a moment. Seto's hand gripped the phone so tightly that he almost popped a knuckle. It seemed like forever before Ishizu finally spoke again.

"You're worried too, aren't you?" Ishizu said quietly.

All the tension flooded out of Seto's body. He slumped back into his chair, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"No," he said.

He might as well have said yes.


	5. Two

_April 18__th_

_5:59 pm_

"Thank you for flying with Tokyo International. Flight 159 is now boarding."

Ishizu Ishtar waited at the conveyor belt, glancing around for her bag. The airport was jammed full, as nearly every public place in Japan always was. Her ears were still readjusting to the fast Japanese being chattered all around her. How long had it been since she had been here? Nearly seven years, or so. She had forgotten how much more fast paced the Japanese world was compared to Egypt. She already missed the low murmur of Arabic.

"Ah," she said, locating her bag.

She lifted the small duffel from the moving belt and checked her watch. She would be taking a bus to the train station, and then a train to Domino. It was a pity there were no airports directly in Domino. If Seto hadn't been so adamantly against her coming, he might have been kind enough to send a jet for her. But he was being as stubborn as ever. Ishizu gripped her bag a little tighter. Even at the end of their conversation, he had been completely against her coming out. She had an excuse; after all, one of the exhibits she was supervising was heading to Tokyo in a week or so.

"He's so stubborn," she muttered. "I would have come even if I wasn't talking to him."

If Bakura was back...that was more serious than anything she could have possibly imagined. How was it possible that he could have come back? The dark god was destroyed seven years ago.

Unless this had something to do with Kira...

She shook her head. Time enough to speculate once she had regrouped with the others and talked a little bit more to Yugi. If what Seto had told her a few weeks ago was true, the former host of the pharaoh was developing his own shadow magic, and that would be more than useful for finding Bakura.

A large television screen was playing the news up on the wall. She only gave it a passing glance before she headed for the airport doors. Her bus would be leaving in ten minutes.

And then a scream cut across the airport.

Ishizu whipped around. Was someone hurt? What happened?

Rapid Japanese flowed around her, too fast for her to quite understand. Several people were pointing – where? Up? Ishizu's eyes snapped upwards. On the television screen, the newscaster she had seen just two minutes ago was slumped forward, face down on his desk. A woman was shaking his shoulders, screaming in Japanese. Several others rushed on screen, a someone dragged a defibrillator to the man.

"Change to Sakura TV! Change to Sakura TV!" someone was screaming, waving her phone in the air.

Someone behind the desk started pounding on buttons. The screen buzzed, and the channel changed. A strange, blurred word in some old English font appeared on the screen. The word was in English letters in a strange and blurred font, and it took Ishizu a moment to realize what it said.

_Kira._

"Oh gods above," she whispered.

* * *

_April 18__th_

_5:59 pm_

"...and in Spain, the Madrid bombing case has recently arrested several suspects thought to be connected to al-Qaeda..."

The white noise of the news station barely even attracted Seto's attention. Numbers were spinning around in his head as he tried to fix the financial reports saying there would be no way he could afford to add his new roller coaster to KaibaLand. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. It had been a rather quiet couple of days. He was shocked that Yugi hadn't called to pester him about the Kira case anymore. He was doubly shocked that L hadn't contacted him to follow up on the Death Note. He wondered who had been the unlucky soul it was tested on.

A scream ripped from the television, nearly making Seto fall out of his chair. He shot up, eyes whipping around to the window for a moment. Then he realized the scream came from the television, and he jerked to face that. The newscaster he had just been listening to all of three seconds ago was slumped across his desk. A woman at his side was screaming and shaking his shoulders, while several others rushed on screen, one carrying a defibrillator.

"He's dead, he's dead!" the woman kept saying over and over. "Oh God! Oh God!"

The phone rang – it sounded like an explosion to Seto's ringing ears. He grabbed it.

"Seto! Are you watching the news?" Yugi said.

"I am – did you just see that?"

"Change to Sakura TV!"

Sakura TV? That was one channel Seto avoided like the plague. He didn't have time for these tabloid shows only interested in getting shock value for the views. But Yugi sounded desperate, so Seto keyed in the channel. The channel changed. A blurred, shaky camera on the English word "Kira" appeared. A garbled voice came over the speakers.

"You can now have no doubt that I am Kira," the voice said. "I am not here to kill innocent people. I abhor evil and defend justice. The police do not have to be my enemies. They can be my allies."

Seto shut off the television – he didn't need to hear anything else.

"What did it start with?" he asked Yugi.

"Sakura TV started playing the tape. First, he said that he was going to kill someone that had been disparaging about his methods, and directed us to another channel."

"How many dead?"

"Two news anchors."

Seto's hand gripped the table just a little too hard.

"It's not the same one," he said.

"What?"

"It's not the same one. This is a different Kira."

"A second one?"

Yugi's voice shook.

"How can there be two of them? How many Death Notes are there? How do you even know?"

"Says Mr. I Can See Souls."

"This is different. Kira's soul is muted by the magic he's using; the magic looks exactly the same, and so I don't see his soul," Yugi said, sounding as though he were trying to suppress his irritation. "How do you know it's a different Kira?"

"The terrible camera," Seto said shortly.

"How does that say anything?"

"If I've noticed one thing about Kira when I did my own research, he's vain. Prideful. You saw how he killed that Tailor guy without even a thought. He's impulsive, but conceited. He doesn't want that kind of messy image."

"That's it?"

Seto's lips tightened.

"Kira also has this sense of justice. It's a twisted one, but it's there. People might disagree with him, but those newscasters weren't exactly going to physically stop him from having his way. He hasn't killed anyone that wasn't either a criminal or someone who stood a chance of stopping him."

"You have a point," Yugi said slowly. "But Seto...what does this mean? If there's two of them now..."

Seto clenched his jaw.

He didn't want to get involved with this. But it looked like Kira was going to make damn well sure that he did get involved.

* * *

_April 18__th_

_6:06 pm_

"This just in, there is someone lying in front of Sakura TV's front door!"

The camera zoomed in. L gripped his knees a little tighter. He didn't show it, but he could feel it – his heart rate jumped up, too fast, sweat started to bead on his forehead.

_Ukita._

"Ukita!" Aizawa shouted.

He practically lunged at the television, grabbing it with both hands as though it were Kira's head. He stared at the image for only half a second. Then he raced for his coat.

"Damn you, Kira!"

"Aizawa-san, where are you going?" L said. Could they hear the tremor in his voice? Maybe not. He was trying so hard to hide it.

"I'm going to get the tapes, dammit!"

"You'll die, too."

"You want me to sit and stare at the television and do _nothing?_"

L didn't look at him. He was sure if he looked up, everyone would see it.

His fear.

That wasn't allowed. He was not allowed to let the others know he was afraid. He was not allowed to let himself know that he was afraid. He was L, the greatest detective in the world. He was professional. He didn't stop until he had his man. He didn't hesitate. He wasn't afraid.

And if he was, he didn't show it.

"I want you to calm down," L said. "I want to stop the broadcast too. We could find crucial evidence if we get the tapes. But if Kira killed Ukita, then anyone who follows him will find the same fate."

"What about our damn fake badges? Did our names leak out?"

The strange, garbled voice of Kira continued to run in the background, on top of the words of warnings to not go near the television station.

"It's possible. But then, why aren't we dead already?"

Calm. He had to force the calm into his voice. Be objective. Become a computer.

Stop staring at the form of Ukita being taken away by the paramedics.

"It seems that Kira now has the ability to kill with just a face," he said. "At least, that is the possibility."

"So Kira could be right there? Watching the cameras?" Matsuda said.

"Possibly."

"But then if we know where Kira is, why don't we go and arrest him?" Aizawa said, voice rising.

"Too risky."

L could almost feel the heat of Aizawa's rage. For a moment, L wished he could do the same thing – he wished he could jump up and kick something, rage at the world and the unfairness of it. It sounded much preferable to the cold pit that kept growing in the pit of his stomach.

Calm. He was calm. He didn't feel. He couldn't feel.

It was too painful to feel.

Aizawa grabbed L by the shoulder, probably trying to make him look up, but L looked staunchly at the ground.

"Didn't you say you would risk your life to stop Kira?" he shouted. "Didn't you?"

"It's too late for Ukita-san," L said, his voice barely above a whisper. "But if Aizawa-san were to die too..."

Goddammit, he couldn't stop the tremble in his hands. He saw death every single day. It never stopped hurting.

Maybe Aizawa saw the tremble. One way or the other, he stepped back. It felt like his rage had subsided. L tried to take some deep breaths. No. He didn't feel things. He had to become emotionless. Kill the stirrings of terror. Destroy the icy bleakness.

_CRASH!_

He jerked upwards.

"It crashed in! A vehicle has crashed right into Sakura TV!"

"What?" Matsuda said.

"A police car – is it one of us?" Aizawa asked.

L pushed his thumb against his lips, eyes wide.

"The armored vehicle is obscuring his face, that's good," he said. "It's still a risk, though – if Kira is in the building itself..."

A flicker of movement caught his eye. He leaned forward, closer to the television. Was that...had someone just moved? It looked as though someone had just stepped out of sight from the glass doors. But that couldn't be possible, because Kira would have killed them. And L would have seen the person walking in – the camera was trained right on the building. Unless they had snuck in just as the armored van crashed in. But that would have been dangerous. Terribly dangerous – they would have been hit, or at least grazed.

The Kira broadcast at Sakura TV ended. The screen zoomed back out, and the anchor for Sakura TV started talking about – something about Kira, how they didn't have a choice but to show the videos, and they would have another broadcast in four days. But L wasn't listening. His eye was drawn to the back of the room, where he could just make out a doorway that wasn't completely blocked by the television screen where the Kira video had been played. He could just make out the door opening. A figure flickered into view, hesitated for a moment, and then slid, almost like water, out of the camera's view.

But L had been able to see enough.

A head of long white hair, and the hint of a deranged smile...


	6. Questioned

_April 19__th_

_12:00 pm_

"Is this going to take long? I have a very important meeting at two, and it takes a good twenty minutes to get back to Domino."

Seto Kaiba was not in a good mood. He folded his arms tightly, his foot tapping out an impatient rhythm. The Tokyo police headquarters seemed much too quiet and much too cold. This was the last thing he wanted to be doing.

"It'll take as long as L wants it to take," the officer called Aizawa said, none too kindly. "So get used to it."

Seto's lips tightened.

"I'll 'get used to it' when you get used to the idea of me suing you."

"For what?" Aizawa said.

There was a jerkiness to his motions, a tenseness in his stance and muscles.

_He's angry_, Seto thought. _One of their team died last night._

And judging by the dark looks Aizawa kept sending him whenever he thought Seto wasn't looking, it was likely that Seto was suddenly a suspect.

The image of the people dying right in front of him on television made him tense up a little too. It was..._senseless_. It made him want to punch a hole through a wall.

Aizawa opened up a door and stood to the side.

"This way," he said.

Seto stalked into the room. It was the standard police interrogation room, completely empty but for a table and a chair. The walls were probably one-way mirrors, but Seto doubted anyone was on the other side right now.

The only thing out of place was the laptop set up on the table. As Seto came into the room and Aizawa closed the door behind him, the screen flickered to life, and a Gothic style L appeared on the screen. Aizawa did not join Seto in the room. It was just him and the laptop – or rather, him and L.

"Hello, Seto Kaiba-san," said the scrambled voice of L.

"Hmph."

Seto took a seat in the chair facing the laptop.

"So what's this about? Calling me in the middle of a meeting and practically forcing me out to Tokyo?"

"I think you know the reason, Kaiba-san," L said. "I assume you watched television last night?"

"Everyone did."

"So you know the extent of the problem."

"I might have an idea."

Great. Here was the 'you are the second Kira' accusation. L paused.

"We need to know if there's anything else about the Death Note."

"Why?"

"You were watching. Two policemen were killed instantly after coming to the television station. There was certainly not enough time to determine their names in the time it took for them to die. And one of my men, with his name concealed, was also killed."

Seto gripped the arms of his chair. He hadn't even realized that. Damn him for noticing one fact and not the other. How _had_ the other Kira killed those people so quickly?

"Is there a way with the Death Note to kill with only a face?"

"If there is, I don't know it," Seto said. "Perhaps drawing the face?"

"We have tested that possibility already. There were no results."

"Then I haven't got a single damn clue. It's not like the thing came with an instruction manual."

Only the buzz of the computer microphone filled the room for a moment.

"Kaiba-san. I'm afraid you are no longer unsuspected after this."

"I figured as much."

"But the probability of you being Kira is only one percent."

"The probability of being the first Kira, or the second?"

A dead silence filled the intercom. Then a soft chuckle came over the feed.

"You noticed that? I'm impressed with your deductive skills, Kaiba-san."

Seto snorted.

"Consider the probability of you being Kira decreased to point five percent," L said.

"Really? Why is that?"

"Because I believe Kira would have nothing to gain from revealing a second Kira. In fact..."

"The second Kira would be very beneficial to Kira," Seto said darkly.

"Correct. You are very perceptive, Kaiba-san. I might want to consult with you on the case further."

"I might not be interested. Are we done here?"

"It seems so. I doubt I will find any more information with you."

Seto grunted, and stood up with a jerk. He was halfway to the door when L spoke again.

"Just...one thing, Kaiba-san," he said.

"What now?" Seto asked, without stopping in his reach for the door.

"Do you know anyone with white hair? Long white hair? A young man perhaps about your age?"

Seto froze with his hand on the handle. He looked back at the laptop.

"...why?"

"No particular reason. I just thought I spotted such a person in the Duelist Cafe...and on the screen during the Kira broadcast. Perhaps he's a duelist? Someone you might know?"

Seto's throat felt dry. He wondered if L could see the slight tremble in his shoulders through the cameras.

"Kaiba-san?"

"No," Seto said finally. "I don't know anyone like that."

He pulled the door open. And hesitated.

"But if I did," he said slowly. "I would tell you to keep your distance from him if he's got purple eyes."

Before L could speak again, and before Aizawa could stop him, he left the room.

* * *

_April 19__th_

_3:42 pm_

"Oh, my. I almost didn't recognize you."

"I didn't even know you were coming," Mokuba Kaiba said.

Ishizu Ishtar shook her head. Mokuba was almost as tall as her, now. With his long black hair now tamed and pulled back into a ponytail, he looked all grown up. His face was even taking on the same angles as his older brother's.

"That earring looks rather dashing. I suppose Seto was against that?"

Mokuba grinned and rubbed the tiny silver stud.

"Oh, definitely. He didn't say anything, but he kind of grimaces every time he sees it."

They came into the great hall, with its giant staircase at the center of the room. The place felt drafty, and the ceiling was too far away. It was almost like there was too much air to breathe. She couldn't imagine living in this place with only three people.

"Seto didn't say you were coming," Mokuba said, leading her into a room off the side of the hall. It was a nice, homey-looking parlor room, with an unused fireplace and mismatched armchairs.

"He was against the idea."

"Of course he was," Mokuba said, sniggering as if at some joke that she was not privy to.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

But the sing-song way he said the word made her think it certainly wasn't nothing.

"Seto's at a meeting. He'll be back in about ten minutes," Mokuba said. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Oh, some water would be nice, thank you."

Mokuba nodded.

"Okay, I'll be right back!"

He practically scampered across the room and disappeared back into the hall. Ishizu waited awkwardly for a moment. Then she took a seat on the very edge of one of the sofas. It was very, very plushy, and she sank a good two inches into it. The décor of the room was similarly all over the place. There were various pillows in different shapes, sizes and patterns all over the different chairs. There were stuffed animals, too, everything from bears and cats to elephants and an echidna. Ishizu was pretty sure she saw a lifesize dolphin pillow peeking out from behind one couch. The room seemed almost claustrophobic in its fluffiness, but there was a warm trickle of sunlight coming through the big windows, and the room felt homey and loved.

She fingered a loose thread on the sofa arm. She had wanted to rush straight here after seeing what she had seen on television. But because of the chaos, they had shut down the airport, and leaving took a long time, after they had searched thousands of bags and people. She could only guess they were looking for signs of Kira – she doubted that L had told anyone outside his force about the Death Note, but he might have dropped some clues to the police. After the several hours trapped at the airport, she had not only missed her planned transportation, but found that nearly every source of public transport had been shut down in the wake of Kira's obvious terrorist attack. It had taken the rest of the day and most of the night to find a train coming to Domino, and after that, she had been too tired to do anything but retire to a hotel room and try to sleep off the horror.

She rubbed her eyes. She had seen death before. More gruesome deaths, and right in front of her.

And still, it never ceased to be terrifying. Scarring. She never wanted to look death in the face again.

Mokuba came back in with a glass of water. He himself had a soda can.

"Thank you," Ishizu said gratefully, taking the glass. "Can I assume you had something to do with this room's decoration?"

Mokuba grinned again as he popped open his soda can.

"Seto never comes in here. I don't think he even knows. It's kind of funny to think about him stumbling across it – especially if he brought some businessman over for dinner or something."

Ishizu laughed softly, imagining Seto's face walking into a room full of stuffed animals.

A soft, reverberating chime rang through the house. She heard a door bang shortly after it. Mokuba leapt up.

"My brother's home!"

Ishizu drank the rest of her water. Mokuba plucked the glass from her hand and kicked open the door with his foot, leading the way into the great hall. There was no one there.

"Ah, he went through the back gate again," Mokuba said. "He's probably already in his office, working stiff."

A face appeared over the banister of the stairs, leaning down. He was unfamiliar to her physically, but she knew who it was. The lanky green-haired boy could be none other than Noa Kaiba.

"Oy, Moki," Noa called down. "Seto in his office?"

"Guess so. Haven't seen him yet. Why, did you finish fixing the laptop?"

"Finished that weeks ago. I wanted to know how the meeting with the Schroeders went."

His green eyes glanced up at Ishizu. She waved.

"Oh, who's this?" Noa asked, coming down to the main platform.

"Right! You haven't met her before. Noa, this is Ishizu. Ishizu, Noa."

Noa blinked. Then he smiled widely. He came down the last few steps to be on even ground with them – he wasn't quite as tall as Mokuba, but there was a longness to his proportions.

He bowed in the Japanese way, and Ishizu bowed back.

"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," Noa said.

"Good things, I hope."

"Well, I'm sure he meant them to be good things. Seto never really says what he actually thinks."

"Tsundere," Mokuba sniggered.

Ishizu laughed softly.

A door bang cut across them.

"Godamn him, the damn meddler," came an all too familiar voice. "What the hell is he thinking – NOA! Have you checked our firewall lately?"

Noa rolled his eyes, turning to shout up the stairs.

"Our firewall is the best in the country – probably the world, because _I_ designed it. What do you have to complain about? Getting porn spam again?"

Seto appeared at the top of the stairs.

"This," Seto said, waving a sheet of paper. "How the hell did someone get into our system to send me a message through the 3D printer? That's not even supposed to be allowed yet!"

"Someone got onto the 3D printer?" Noa said, looking simultaneously shocked and impressed. "What'd they send?"

"That damn meddler, L," Seto snapped. He stormed down the stairs. "He sent me a police investigation badge. He's trying to force me onto his little Kira taskforce, and I want to know how he hacked our mainframe."

Noa looked like he was trying really hard not to whistle appreciatively.

"I'll look into it," he said. "Damn. This L must be good."

Seto looked like he might rage some more, except he caught sight of Ishizu. It was a rather amusing reaction – his mouth literally dropped open, and he dropped the badge from his hand.

"Hello," Ishizu said, waving. She tried not to smile too broadly, but it was hard. His face was so priceless – it was difficult to catch him off guard, and she was enjoying it.

It took half a minute for Seto to regain his composure.

"Noa, aren't you going to check on something?" Seto snapped.

"On my way," Noa said, trying very hard to smother his laugh.

"Mokuba, don't you have homework?"

"Done," Mokuba said.

"Well go find something else to do in another location."

Mokuba didn't even try to smother his giggles. He winked at Ishizu and skipped away. Ishizu wondered what the joke was. Noa and Mokuba both seemed to be in on it.

Once both boys had disappeared, the silence between them didn't last too long.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"How rude, Seto. I'm here to see you, of course."

Seto's lips tightened.

"I said you didn't have to come."

"I probably would have come anyway. One of my exhibits will be here in a few weeks."

He folded his arms, trying to look frustrated.

It wasn't doing much to mask the nervousness in the back of his eyes.

"Are you actually worried about me?" she asked teasingly.

"Why would I be worried about _you_? With your hocus-pocus, you could probably take Kira on and win."

Ishizu shook her head.

Seto was taller than the last time she had seen him face to face. The lines of his face were a little harder, but beyond that, he didn't seem to have changed at all. It was somewhat reassuring. After seeing Mokuba so changed, she couldn't deny that she had been worried that everything else was moving on without her. Not Seto, of course, she should have known. Not even time could make Seto change. She smiled at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Seto asked.

"You look the same as ever," she said. "In fact, you even have the same expression on your face when I saw you in Egypt five years ago."

A little of the tension melted from Seto's face, but only a little.

"You're not here even two minutes, and I have to be reminded about that."

"Don't look at me. You're the one who came. I never asked you too."

Five years ago, Seto had stood in front of her just like that. She had dropped the bowl she was holding, and it had broken, she had been so surprised. It had been a full two years since the pharaoh had passed on, and she had assumed she wouldn't see most of the group from Domino again.

"Are you any less confused than before?" she asked.

"I'm not confused."

"You showed up on my doorstep five years ago asking me to tell you more about the afterlife. I'd say you were confused."

He half-growled.

"That was five years ago."

"And do you think you're getting better?"

His expression said it all. She touched him lightly on the shoulder.

"It's all right. You should feel shaken."

His glare really didn't have much force.

"You came to me five years ago and told me that you didn't believe in God," she said. "That you didn't believe in magic, or an afterlife."

"Still don't," Seto said, but he didn't sound convinced himself.

"And then you watched a man you know walk away into an afterlife," Ishizu said quietly. "And you wanted to know why. I couldn't give you those answers. Have you found any on your own since then?"

Seto clenched his jaw.

"It doesn't matter," he finally said, stepping away from Ishizu's touch. "I have more important things to think about now."

Ishizu glanced at the fallen police badge.

"Like the Kira investigation?"

Seto groaned. He reached down and retrieved the badge.

"He shouldn't even be able to send my printer patterns," he grumbled.

"So? What are you going to do about it? Are you going to join with L?"

"He's a meddler, and I don't need that kind of complication in my life," Seto said.

Ishizu raised an eyebrow at him. He glared at her with his deep blue eyes for a long moment. Then he blew out and looked away.

"Yes, dammit. I already told Yugi a few hours ago. If L asked, I would help him on the damn taskforce."

"What made the change?"

Seto closed his eyes. He rubbed his temples.

"There's a second Kira."

Ishizu gasped. Her hand went to her mouth.

"A – a second? How?"

"That one on television wasn't the original. I don't know how, but there are two other Death Notes in the world, and dammit, two more chances for _him_ to get a hold of one."

"Two more chances for him to kill us all," Ishizu whispered.

Seto leaned against the banister behind him.

"That's not it, either," Seto said. "L dropped a question to me earlier. Asked me about a boy with white hair."

"Ryo?"

"No, I don't think so. L said he saw the guy during the Kira broadcast. I rewatched the whole thing."

"No," Ishizu whispered, bracing herself for the worst.

Seto opened his eyes. The ocean blue had turned steel hard.

"It was him, Ishizu. Bakura was in that station during the Kira case."

"He's getting bolder," Ishizu said.

"Yeah," Seto said.


	7. Him

It was easy to see how bad things were instantly. It wasn't often that Katsuya Jonouchi looked so serious.

"Hey, Ishizu," Jonouchi said, only managing half a smile.

"It's good to see you again," Ishizu said. "How are you?"

"Holding up. You?"

"I've been better."

"Heh. Haven't we all."

The gathering had started in Seto's home office, but once it started to get too cramped for comfort, they had relocated to the conference room. Ishizu wouldn't have minded staying in the crowded office. The conference room, with its high ceiling and long, cold table with many chairs – a lot still empty – felt cold and unwelcoming. This was the place where work was done and secrets were passed. It wasn't a friendly atmosphere.

Jonouchi checked his watch. As always after not seeing everyone in years, she was surprised by how much he had grown. He hadn't grown too much taller, but the lankiness of his teen years seemed to have evened out. His shoulders were broader, and his tank top revealed his defining muscles. His hair was a little shorter than before. Most importantly, however, it was his eyes that had matured. That undertone of rage and self-consciousness seemed to have melted away.

"Yugi's late," he said.

Ishizu nodded. She looked at the clock on the wall for the fifth time that evening. Seto was still in his office finishing something up. But the rest of the group was present.

Jonouchi and Mokuba weren't the only ones who had changed in her absence. Shizuka had cut her hair to shoulder length, and her round face was starting to smooth out into soft curves. Honda had a buzz cut. Ryo didn't physically look much different, but there was a different aura, a different sense to the way he stood. His shoulders were straighter, and his face more relaxed. Years apart from his dark half seemed to have down wonders for him. Anzu looked like a full-grown woman now, her face matured into a adult. Her hairstyle hadn't changed, although perhaps it was a little bit longer. She looked toned and athletic. Dance school must have contributed to that.

Noa and Mokuba were in the conference room too, accompanied by a young girl Ishizu didn't recognize. She appeared to be about the same age as Mokuba and Noa, perhaps about sixteen or seventeen. She wore her blonde hair in a short pixie cut, and a pair of red glasses balanced on her nose.

Jonouchi seemed to notice her glance, and he gave a start.

"Huh? What's Rebecca doing here?" he said.

"Rebecca?" Ishizu said. "I'm afraid I don't know her."

"American Duel Monsters champion," Jonouchi said. "She's some kind of whizz kid, we met her years ago."

He frowned.

"I don't know why she's here, though. She's not in on the..._you-know-who_ stuff. She wasn't around during that time."

Ishizu nodded slowly. Anzu looked up and caught Ishizu's eye. Her eyes brightened, and she jogged over.

"Ishizu-san!" she said. "It's been ages!"

The two women hugged.

"I know, I've missed everyone," Ishizu said, pulling away. "I should have come to visit sooner."

"Oh, you know us. It takes the end of the world to get us to get together again," Anzu said with a laugh. "But after this is all sorted out, you'll have to stay for a while longer!"

"Let's hope it gets ended quickly, then," Ishizu said. "How have you been holding up?"

Anzu's smile turned sad – but it was an improvement from the last time they had talked. At least she was still smiling.

"It's not really something you ever get over, is it?" she said. "Losing a friend."

Ishizu touched her shoulder.

"No, it isn't," she said.

Then the big conference room doors opened and Seto stalked in. His normal irritated expression looked a bit more angry than usual, and Ishizu could only guess that it was because of the boy with tricolored hair trailing behind him.

If the other's growth had startled her, it didn't compare to what she felt when she looked at Yugi now. He was nearly as tall as Seto, his shoulders broader, the faint definition of muscle tone in his bare arms. The round, child-like face had turned into the sharp-edged face of a young man. He looked...like an adult. His sharp violet eyes glared through his glasses – when had he started wearing glasses?

"Yugi!" Jonouchi said, waving.

Yugi broke off whatever he was about to say to Seto. He glanced over, and his gaze softened.

"Hey, Katsuya-kun," Yugi said, walking over to them. "Ishizu-san, it's good to see you again."

"And you," Ishizu said, bowing in return to him. "When did you start wearing glasses?"

Yugi blinked. He reached up.

"Oh, I forgot to take them off," he said, looking sheepish. "I guess squinting at card effects did a number on me. I need to use them for reading now."

He pulled them off and hooked them onto his breast pocket.

"I don't know, you look pretty dashing with your glasses," Anzu said teasingly. "Just like a professor."

"I'm not a professor yet," Yugi said, smiling.

"It won't be long though, Mr. Archaeological Genius!"

Anzu pushed Yugi's shoulder playfully. Ishizu could barely hide her smile. She wondered if the two of them realized how big they smiled when they looked at each other. She breathed out, closing her eyes with a smile. Despite the darkness that was making them come together, she could not deny how reassuring it was to see all of them growing up and healing. Anzu hadn't been able to stop crying for a while after Atem left. Now...it was good to see the look in her eyes when she glanced at Yugi.

Ishizu glanced over at Seto, who was currently trying to shoo Noa, Mokuba, and Rebecca out of the room.

"We're going to talk about boring business stuff. You don't want to be here."

"If you were talking business stuff, Jonouchi wouldn't be here," Mokuba said stubbornly. "I want in on this, Seto. I'm not a kid anymore."

"You're a kid until I say so. Now out."

"You can make us leave," Noa said. "But I can hack the camera feed and we can watch you anyway."

Seto looked like he was about to explode.

"You two aren't old enough for this. Out."

"I'm seventeen!" Mokuba said.

"Excuse me," Ishizu said to Yugi and the others.

Yugi sent a grimace her way.

_Good luck_, he mouthed.

Ishizu smiled back and walked over to Seto.

"Seto," she said. "Why don't you let them stay?"

"They're not your brothers," Seto said.

"You're right. They're yours. I know that," Ishizu said. "But do you know who also knows that?"

Seto glared at her, blue eyes to brown.

"He's not going to ignore them just because they don't know anything," she whispered.

Seto's jaw clenched. Mokuba's eyes hardened, as though he already knew "who" they were talking about. Noa shifted a bit uneasily. Rebecca's hands were clenched into fists.

Finally, Seto blew out.

"Fine," Seto said. "You can stay. But Rebecca, out."

"What!" Rebecca said indignantly.

"There's no reason for you to become a part of this. Out."

"Too late, Mokuba's already told me about this Bakura guy," Rebecca said, folding her arms. "You're not _my_ brother. I can do what I want."

"I'm not bringing anyone else into this."

Rebecca stuck out her tongue.

"I turned eighteen three days ago. I'm a legal adult."

"Not in Japan, you aren't. Out."

"Make me!"

Ishizu took Seto's shoulder. She could feel the tremble in his limbs, and she wasn't sure if it was from anger or fear.

"Seto," she whispered. "Leave it."

Seto glared at her again. Then he seemed to give up. He shook his head and stalked over to the conference table. Rebecca and Mokuba shared a low five behind his back. Ishizu shook her head.

"I'm Ishizu Ishtar," she said to Rebecca, holding out her hand.

Rebecca shook her hand.

"Rebecca Hopkins," she said. "Mokuba-san told me about you. It's nice to meet you."

Ishizu nodded.

"Can we get this damn thing going already?" Seto shouted.

Ishizu laughed softly. Rebecca smothered her grin. The group all filtered towards the table, but no one sat down. Seto stood behind the chair at the head of the table, his hands on the back.

"So everybody's here, huh?" he said. "Now somebody tell me what the hell we're doing this for."

Yugi shook his head in exasperation.

"We rewatched the Kira broadcast," he said, looking down at everyone else. "Bakura was definitely in the news station during that time."

"Do you think he sent the tapes?" Jonouchi said.

"No," Yugi said shortly. "If he had a Death Note, he wouldn't be trying to contact the original Kira, and we'd all be dead."

Seto snorted.

"So...he's active," Honda said.

The silence was answer enough. Ishizu glanced around at everyone. The smiles and cheer from before had completely melted away. And no one looked more stricken then Ryo himself. He was gripping the back of a chair, and his hands were shaking, knuckles white. He wouldn't look up at anyone.

"Has anyone seen him since that first time?" Yugi said. "And besides the TV station?"

"The first time?" Ishizu asked.

Yugi blinked.

"Oh, right, you weren't there," Anzu said.

"Yami no Bakura showed up just a few hours after L and Kira had their first face off," Jonouchi said. "He broke into Ryo's apartment."

"Luckily, Jonouchi, Anzu, and I were all there," Yugi said. "We were discussing the shadow magic, since Ryo and I seem to be developing a potential for it."

"He was armed. He went at Anzu," Ryo said. "I tried to fight him off, but he used his own magic, and I collapsed."

"So Jonouchi punched him, and that seemed to throw him off guard," Yugi said.

Jonouchi smiled darkly.

"That was...the first time I summoned a ka," Yugi said. "He seems weak, right now. I was able to chase him off."

"But not before he let slip about getting a Death Note," Jonouchi said.

Ishizu nodded.

"Does anyone know how he came back?" Ishizu said. "He should have been destroyed for good after the Shadow RPG."

"That's what we all thought," Yugi said. "It seems he always has a back up plan. Ishizu-san, have you ever played Monster World?"

"No," Ishizu said.

"It's just my theory," Ryo said, finally looking up for the first time. "But during his first battle with Yami no Yugi, his soul was attached to the Zorc piece in that role-playing game."

He took a breath.

"I think he tied himself to that character," Ryo said. "So that when he died...every time the piece was used in somebody's role-playing game, it gave him a bit of power. There's some element of belief in an RPG. That belief kept feeding him, until he was able to breach our world again."

"Complex magic," Ishizu said thoughtfully. "But not unlikely."

"Unfortunately, it turns out we can't ever completely destroy the darkness," Yugi said. "We can only seem to delay it."

"But what's our plan _now?_" Seto said suddenly. "Yes, he's back, we know that. And I joined the damn task force because you told me to keep an eye on Kira, Yugi."

Yugi sighed and rubbed his temples.

"How many times do we have to go over this?" he said. "I'm not forcing you to do anything – but if we want to stay alive, you have to cooperate with me."

Seto glared, but didn't say anything. Yugi closed his eyes for a moment.

"Okay," he said. "We're here to discuss our plans."

"Right," Jonouchi said.

"Yami no Bakura just got enough energy to reform a body, but he's still weak in terms of magic," Yugi said. "Still, it's only a matter of time before he regains the strength to summon a monster like Diabound."

"How are we going to fight that creature?" Shizuka asked with a tremor in her voice. "I've only heard about it from Hiroto-kun, but...it's so powerful, isn't it?"

"Intensely," Yugi said. "But that's why we have to increase our defenses."

"How?" Rebecca asked.

"We're all going to learn shadow magic."

A brief silence punctuated the room. Ishizu could hear the faint ticking of a clock on the far wall.

"And how," Seto asked. "Do you expect us to do that?"

Yugi smiled slightly.

"Don't think that just Ryo and I can do it," he said. "Listen, I can see souls now. And when I see souls, I can see the potential for magic, and ka summoning. I have reason to believe that we might even be able to fight off the death magic of the Death Note if we train right."

"How do you know we've got the talent for it, Yug?" Jonouchi asked, frowning.

"I just said, didn't I? I can see your souls."

"It was Atem," Ishizu said softly. "Wasn't it?"

The name made another silence fall over the room.

"Yes," Yugi said. "Yes. It was him."

"Atem's soul was so strong that it affected everyone around him," Ryo said. "Not only did he naturally attract those with the potential for shadow magic, but he opened them up to that potential as well."

"Now it only takes a spark of light to really get it started," Yugi said. "Which Ryo and I have from behind the light half of a shadow mage."

"So you're saying we're going to learn magic tricks?" Seto said.

Yugi sighed.

"Seto, it's been seven years. You watched a man walked into the afterlife. How much more does it take?"

Seto just looked at him, like _can you even ask that question without knowing the answer already?_

Yugi sighed again. Then he turned his hand down so that the back of his hand was facing everyone. A word whispered under his breath. Then a hieroglyphic started to glow on the back of his hand.

_Light_, Ishizu read.

And light did appear all around him, a bright, golden aura that seemed to have a life of its own. The light threw itself off of him, hit the ground like water, and started to rush upwards in streams. Finally, the light melded together, and fell away.

The Silent Magician stood in the middle of the floor, holding her staff loosely. She cocked her head, looking from under silver bangs with light blue eyes.

"Sorry," Yugi said to her. "I don't mean to bother you. But I had to prove a point."

Silent Magician shrugged.

"I'm a part of your soul," she said. "It doesn't bother me to come."

"Thank you," Yugi said.

Silent Magician nodded. Then she turned to ice blue light and disappeared.

Yugi turned back to look at the stunned group.

"Are we sure that wasn't a hologram?" Rebecca asked, breaking the silence.

Yugi smiled.

"I'm sure," he said. "And all of us are going to have to learn to find and summon our ka monsters."

Jonouchi cracked his knuckles.

"What are we waiting for?" Jonouchi said. "Why don't we start now?"

* * *

**A/N: This was kind of a lot of exposition, so I apologize if it seems to slow the story down. I really did need to set up all the characters (only just decided during this chapter to bring Rebecca back XD) and sort of expound on my theory about how Bakura got back. Next chapter, Yugi and Seto's group is officially going to meet the task force. I'm sure you can imagine all the conclusions that will be jumped too. :3 Happy Thanksgiving, all! Don't eat too much!**


	8. Shinigami

_April 24__th_

_12:32 pm_

"Ah, Kaiba-kun. Glad you could make it."

Kaiba shot L a dark look.

"Next time you call me out all the way to Tokyo, can I get some advance warning? The commute is not exactly a quick one."

"Kira won't give us advance warning," L said.

"Well, he can go screw himself."

L tried to suppress his smile. Kaiba was certainly a character. But then L cocked his head slightly, studying the tall young man. Something was different about him from the last time they had talked. He was tense – well, he always seemed to be tense, but it was different this time. L thought he saw the C.E.O.'s eyes start to flicker back behind him, and then snap forward again. Almost as though he felt like he were being followed. Well, paranoia wouldn't be the worst thing he got out of this case. L usually felt like someone was following him all the time, but that was only natural to be cautious after all of what he had been through. Still. It seemed odd coming from Kaiba.

Not only that, but Kaiba looked a little flushed. His breaths were slightly irregular, as though he had just been working out. Had he ran all the way here from the train station? The image of Kaiba running with his big silver briefcase and ridiculous long white coat put an interesting image in L's mind. No, he doubted the C.E.O. would lose any dignity in that way.

Something else was up. But L filed it away for later investigation. Kira was the important thing.

"So. You are L, huh?" Seto said, looking him up and down. "Never would have guessed from meeting you at Radar."

"That is generally my intent," L said.

He beckoned Seto in and shuffled towards the middle of the hotel room, where the rest of the task force was waiting.

"Let me introduce you to the team."

"Really? Going to trust me with names and faces?"

"Kaiba-kun, if everyone in this room dies except for me after we introduce you, I think we can be sure of who Kira is."

Kaiba smiled darkly.

"Yeah, I guess so."

The rest of the task force had varying expressions of distrust, nervousness, and uncertainty. L guessed – correctly, of course – that they weren't thrilled about Seto Kaiba joining the team.

"Soichiro Yagami, police chief," L said. "Matsuda, Aizawa, Mogi. And you met Light-kun before."

L took a glance at Kaiba's expression. He kept the same disgruntled face as he shook hands with each man. It might have been L's imagination, but he thought Light and Kaiba might have met each other's eyes with just a little too much force.

"So, I heard that you figured it out too," Light said, smiling slightly.

"Figured out what?" Kaiba said.

Light blinked at him. Kaiba glared for a moment.

"Oh, you mean the Second Kira? Yeah, I figured that out."

L chanced a glance across the task force. Matsuda looked impressed. Yagami and Aizawa glanced at each other. Ah. So they were suspecting Seto Kaiba. Very good. So was he.

L settled down into a chair, pulling his feet up onto the seat.

"Well," he said. "Now that everyone's here and acquainted, let's get started."

"What are you planning on?" Kaiba asked.

L glanced over at Light. The boy's eyes were on Kaiba, although Kaiba wasn't looking back. There was a guarded look in Light's eyes.

Hm.

_The probability of Seto Kaiba being Kira is only about 2%. However, the probability of Light Yagami being Kira is about 5% – no, 3.5% after he concluded on a second Kira. Still, Light seems very interested in Seto Kaiba for some reason. Maybe Light-kun is suspecting Kaiba? Probability of Kaiba being the second Kira...4%. Giving us the Death Note might have been a distraction. And if Light could be the original..._

L shook his head. He was going in circles. But he filed the possibility of Seto being the second Kira away for later investigation.

"We are going to make a fake Kira response," L said. "And Light-kun, I want you to write it."

Light's eyes snapped away from Kaiba to L.

"Huh? Me? Why?"

L considered the question, and decided it wasn't worth answering.

"Aizawa-san, you will do the voice distortion. We're going to try and get a response from the second Kira."

Light still looked thrown off guard, but he nodded. Kaiba's eyes wandered over to Light for a minute, and then flicked away.

"So why am I here?" he said.

"Because you're going to proofread for Light-kun."

_Let's see how well the two of you can get into Kira's head..._

* * *

_April 26__th_

_3:35 pm_

"_Ryuzaki, the second Kira responded!"_

Seto jerked slightly, raising his head from where it had been resting against his fist. He glanced up as the rest of the task force whipped to face the computer with the giant L on the screen. His own heart beat picked up.

_The second Kira, huh?_ he thought, completely awake now.

L was already shuffling over to the computer screen and leaning towards the microphone.

"Can you broadcast the video straight to this computer?" L said.

"Yes."

"Do it, now."

L slid into his rolling chair and drew his legs up, like usual. Seto stood up from the armchair and joined the rest of the police force around the computer.

It had been two days since he had joined the police force. Writing that Kira message had been absolute torture. The last thing he wanted was to try and get into the mind of a murderer – at least he had only had to proofread what Light wrote. He shot a glance at the boy now. He looked much too young to be involved in something like this. There was a glint to his eyes that Seto didn't like. He had seen those eyes in businessmen before – deals and negotiations with men like that had always gone sour. It was like Light's presence sort of grated on him. Seto's lip curled a bit. He had been forced to come to the headquarters for the past two days, and then returned home to find Yugi or someone else waiting. They were practicing the shadow magic in Seto's basement, and dammit, it was tiring. He felt like he was going to drop into sleep at any moment. And still, only Yugi was able to materialize his ka. A few of the others were getting auras – to Seto's immense shame, Jonouchi was making better progress than himself.

The screen crackled – the video was coming through.

"Kira-san! Thanks for replying!"

Despite the garbled voice over, there was an interesting pitch to it. It kept jumping, but every now and then, Seto thought he could hear the real voice somewhere behind it: it was a higher pitched voice. Perhaps a younger child...or even a woman. He would not be surprised to find that the second Kira was a girl.

"I'll do everything that Kira-san said."

A chorus of breaths drawn in and let out rippled across the police force. Seto's heart rate picked up a little more, and his fingers twitched. So easily? They had stopped this Kira from killing L so easily?

"I want to meet you, Kira-san!" the voice continued. "I don't think you have the eyes, but don't worry, I won't kill Kira-san no matter what!"

"The eyes?" Aizawa asked, glancing at the others. "What does that mean?"

His gaze rested on Seto for just a little longer than necessary. Seto glared at him.

"Don't look at me," he said. "How the hell should I know?"

"Please think of a way for us to meet. When we see each other, we can just confirm our identities with our Shinigami!"

L's chair toppled to the ground.

"Ryuzaki!" Matsuda said.

"Are you okay?" Aizawa asked.

L's hands were shaking. His eyes were so wide that the whites of his eyes formed a thick pool around his dark irises.

"Sh-Shinigami?" he said out loud. "Is he saying that Shinigami are real?"

Now L was shaking so badly that he looked like he might faint. Seto's hands rolled up into fists.

Shinigami? Was that just a term for their ability to kill? Or could Shinigami actually exist? Was it possible? Wait... The thought sparked to life at the back of his mind. Could the Shinigami be...ka monsters?

"Ryuzaki," Light said. "It's just nonsense – you can't believe everything Kira says."

"The messages that the old Kira made prisoners write confirm Shinigami," L said, glancing back over his shoulder.

Light shook his head.

"No, I don't think that's it. It sounds more like a code word – perhaps a term for their ability to kill?"

"That _does _make sense," said Soichiro, nodding.

Seto's fists tightened slightly. He personally wasn't too convinced. Light, however, looked a little overconfident in his own assumption. Damn, he _really_ didn't like this kid. He shifted his eyes to L, who was slowly standing up and righting his chair. L didn't look completely convinced himself, but the terror in his eyes was starting to fade away. That had been a surprising display of emotion.

It made Seto uneasy.

"Well, I suppose we can guess so," L said slowly. "However...for now, the mention of the Shinigami is the one thing that definitely connects the two."

He glanced back at Seto as he settled back in his chair.

"Kaiba-kun, what do you think? Do you think that Shinigami could exist?"

Seto folded his arms.

"If they do, I've never met one," he said shortly. Then he paused. "But I wouldn't doubt the possibility. I've seen more than my fair share of things that aren't supposed to exist."

L blinked.

"Really? Like what?"

Seto shrugged.

"We'd be here all day."

"Kaiba-kun, this could be important to the Kira investigation."

All eyes were on Seto now. He drummed his fingers against his arm, irritated. How much could he really get away with telling them? He and Yugi had already decided together that they wouldn't mention anything about Yami no Bakura. Bakura was Yugi's priority – Kira was Seto's. They hoped to make sure the two stayed separate. Permanently. So how much could he tell the police force about ka monsters, without having to talk about Yami no Bakura, without making himself sound more suspicious, and without making them think he was insane? Hell, he barely wanted to believe in this magic stuff himself, and he had to watch people do it every night now.

"I said already, I don't know a damn thing about Shinigami," he said. "But they could exist, for all I know."

"Nothing else, Kaiba-kun?"

Kaiba hesitated. If Shinigami really were ka monsters, or something of the same creature...

Yugi might know something more about it.

"Well..." he said reluctantly. "I don't know much. But I do know someone that might know more."

L blinked.

"Someone else?" Matsuda said, obviously intrigued.

"We can't afford to pass on any information to outside sources," Soichiro said.

"Hm," L said.

The lanky boy stuck his thumb against his lips, chewing on his thumb nail. He stared at the flickering computer screen for a few moments. Then he looked back at Seto.

"Well...let's look into it," he said slowly. "Kaiba-kun. Is this person a friend of yours?"

"Unfortunately," Seto said under his breath. In a normal voice, he spoke aloud, "Yes. And he's something of an expert on the supernatural – at least, he claims to be."

"Interesting," L said. "...I want to meet him."

"Ryuzaki!" Aizawa said. "You can't go out – not with the second Kira out there!"

"Hm, maybe not..." L said. "Kaiba-kun, how much do you think he knows about Shinigami, if they exist?"

Seto laughed shortly.

"Who knows what Yugi Mutou knows about anything?" he said. "He's starting to become a damn enigma."

* * *

_April 26__th_

_6:21 pm_

L was a very stubborn person. And the task force wasn't in the hotel all the time. All of them went home a few hours after the reply from the second Kira, in fact. The idea of Shinigami continued to niggle at him. He really wanted to believe what Light said, that it was just a code word for the ability to kill. The rest of the task force was adamant in supporting Light in this, and none of them were willing to risk talking to this Yugi Mutou, no matter how much of an expert on the supernatural he might be. They didn't want Kira to know that they knew about the Death Note, and telling others about it would just make it easier for the serial killer to find out what they knew.

But he could shake the uneasiness. And he would be a horrible detective if he ignored such a blatant clue like this.

So now here he was, shuffling up the stairs from the subway into the streets of Domino City. Only Watari knew where he was going, and while Watari had disapproved of this trip as well, the older man knew better than to try and dissuade L when it came to things like this. L flipped open the cell phone he had "borrowed" from Matsuda. He ran through the Internet search again, looking up Yugi Mutou for the third time already. He had already memorized the information automatically, but it was always good to double check the facts.

The face of a spiky haired young man appeared on the screen, the same young man that L had seen with Seto Kaiba on that first day in Radar Duelist Cafe. In this picture, he was wearing glasses – it was a faculty picture taken for Domino City University. According to this, he was supposed to be a student teacher in the history department, but it looked like he was the only teacher for the archeology course, and he was assigned to two of the four ancient history courses by himself. L flipped the page as he walked.

One of those classes was ending in ten minutes. Yugi Mutou should be in the college now. On the next Internet result was a mention of a book written by the same Yugi Mutou, called _Shadow Rituals: The Role of Games in the Ancient World._ The reviews were all very good. One professor was lauding Mutou as the best thing to happen to archaeological study since Howard Carter. The biography inside the book told L that Mutou had been involved in an archaeological dig that uncovered the rest of the tomb of the nameless pharaoh, and that he had found the chamber that had the last remaining mention of the pharaoh's name, turning the nameless pharaoh into Atem once and for all. It was apparently a big deal in the archeology world. He had also been a translator on several more, smaller digs – apparently he could read hieroglyphics, and was semi-fluent in Arabic.

Yugi Mutou was also listed on nearly every dueling website he could find. World Champion, he had defeated Seto Kaiba seven years ago, then gone on to win Duelist Kingdom, defeat the creator of Duel Monsters himself, and won several other major tournaments. Most of the sites loved to discuss his acquisition of the most powerful cards in the game: the God Cards. Few were completely sure of their monster effects and their discussion was a hot topic in many forums. Apparently, Battle City footage had cut out somewhere in the middle of the tournament, and no one was entirely sure what had happened at the end of the tournament, except that Seto Kaiba confirmed that Yugi Mutou had won, and was crowed World Champion.

And since then...Yugi had dropped off the dueling radar, with only one minor appearance in the KC Grand Prix.

L flipped the phone shut. So. This young man was an archeology genius and a gaming genius, however, he had dropped out of the dueling universe despite his obvious skills, almost right after a tournament of which the end results were technically still a mystery. He knew Kaiba, and was obviously something of a rival to him. But Kaiba had called Yugi his friend. So this was beginning to become a mystery almost as interesting as Kira.

The college was only two blocks away from the subway station. He glanced over it for a moment – it didn't particularly stand out, just a three story building of plan stone with lots of windows. He pushed in through the doors.

"Hello?" said the lady at the desk. "Can I help you?"

"I'm just here to talk to one of my professors," L said, fishing out a Domino College ID card – without a picture – from his pocket and showing it to her.

"Oh, go ahead," the woman said with a smile, barely looking at the card. She waved him on.

L nodded and pushed the card back into his pocket. He snuck a glance at the campus map behind the desk as she bent down to reach a fallen pen. Ah, the history department was that way.

He shuffled down the hallway. This was actually a very nice looking college. He had been under the impression that Domino was something of a run-down city. Hadn't it been in the top five list for cities with high rates of gang violence a few years ago?

An idea occurred to him, and he flipped the cell phone open again. He found the article he was looking for about the gang violence and check the date.

Seven years ago. About the same time Yugi had appeared in the dueling world. He looked up the stats now. Domino wasn't even in the top ten for gang violence anymore. Gangs had simply seemed to disappear from the streets of Domino.

_Interesting..._

"That's a very good hypothesis, but take a closer look at the markings here...that suggests a much later date."

L looked up. A door into a lecture hall stood open in front of him. He glanced in through the door.

There he was, the man himself. Yugi Mutou stood at a desk, pointing to something in a book that young man was looking at.

"I didn't even notice that," he said.

"Dating artifacts can be really difficult – but what's important is to check the details, and no matter what, to have a very good case for the time period you're guessing an object came from," Yugi said. "You're doing well, Fudo-san, you don't have to be so hard on yourself."

L shifted slightly. Yugi's eye caught on his figure as he straightened up.

"Oh, hello," he said. "Just a moment."

"No, that's okay, Mutou-sensei, I think I've got it now," the boy said, gathering up his books. "Thanks a lot!"

"No problem. Don't forget the essay due next class."

The boy grinned sheepishly.

"No, definitely won't forget that. Bye, Mutou-sensei."

The boy hurried past L and jogged away down the hall with his armful of textbooks.

"Hello," Yugi said, coming over to L. "I recognize you – you're from the task force, right?"

"Yes," L said, a bit surprised that Yugi remembered. "You were at the Duelist Cafe with Kaiba-kun."

The two shook hands.

"I'm Yugi Mutou."

"Ryuuga Hideki."

"Isn't that a pop star?"

"I get that a lot."

Yugi stepped back into the lecture room so that L could walk in.

"So...what do I owe this pleasure to?" Yugi said. "Or maybe it's not a pleasure at all – am I being investigated?"

His tone was lighthearted, but L was starting to wonder that himself. Could Yugi be a suspect in the Kira case? Well, never mind, that wasn't the reason for this visit."

"You haven't watched the news recently, have you?" he asked.

"Not since last night. Why?"

_So he wouldn't have seen the second Kira's reply message yet..._

"So you've seen the Kira tapes."

Yugi's smile faded.

"Who hasn't?" he said, looking out the big windows. He reached up and pulled his glasses from his nose, tucking them into his shirt pocket. "Two Kiras...damn, I thought we were bad off enough with the first one."

L blinked.

"What do you think of Kira, then?" he asked, although he wasn't sure why he was asking it.

Yugi shook his head.

"What he's doing...I can see why he – or she, I suppose – is doing it. I can see how Kira could think that he was doing the right thing..."

"But you don't think so."

"Not in the slightest," Yugi said. "Kira probably doesn't even realize it...but he is turning into the monster that he claims to want to eliminate."

L nodded slowly. There was a strong conviction, like a fire, in the back of Yugi's violet eyes. His words were firm and strong. Still, so were Light's...and Light was still the biggest suspect in the Kira case.

"I'm going to guess you're not here to discuss Kira's morality," Yugi said. "Did one of the Kira's send another reply?"

"Just a few hours ago. It's probably being played now."

Yugi nodded.

"And your visit is connected to that?"

"Kaiba-kun is under the impression that you're an expert on the supernatural."

Yugi smiled slightly, looking pleased.

"Really? Did he say that?" he said. "I'm surprised."

"Are you, then?"

"Well, maybe not an expert...but I do know a bit."

"What do you know about Shinigami?"

Yugi paused. He placed his hands on the desk, leaning down and looking at the wood. He seemed to be deep in thought. Finally, he straightened up, and started to play with his glasses, folding and unfolding them over and over.

"I've never...heard much about the _word_ Shinigami," he said. "It's only a Japanese legend, of course. But death gods show up in numerous forms in ancient writings and art."

L nodded; this he knew already.

"Did Kira specifically mention anything about Shinigami?" he asked. "I haven't seen the tape yet."

"The second Kira said that they wanted to meet the first," L said. "They said that they could confirm each other's identity by showing their Shinigami."

"Could that be a reference to their ability to kill?"

"That possibility has been brought up, yes."

Yugi paused in his motions with his glasses. After a beat, he hooked them back into his pocket, and reached into a drawer to rummage for a bit.

"I'm probably not the biggest supernatural expert in the world," he said, still rummaging in the drawer. "But I can claim that I may be the one who's experienced the most phenomena."

"Really?" L said, both intrigued and skeptical. "A ghost hunter, are you?"

Yugi laughed. He pulled a few things from the drawer as if to get them out of the way of his search – a few pens, some extra paper, a notebook...a strange, golden winglike object attached to a bracer...

Finally, he seemed to find what he was looking for. He withdrew a thin notebook that for a moment L thought was a Death Note. But it was spiral bound and had a green cover, with no writing on it. Yugi flipped open a page.

"I've been looking into Kira's motions whenever I can," Yugi said. "I figured out that he needs both a name and a face to kill."

L nodded. Yugi wasn't half bad. He wondered for a moment how much the young man knew about the Death Note, if Kaiba had shown him anything about it. If he was Kaiba's go to supernatural expert, it was likely that he had taken it to Yugi first. It would also explain his presence at the Duelist Cafe. Perhaps he needed to keep a closer eye on this history professor.

"Names have been an important part of magic rituals since ancient times," Yugi said, glancing at his own scribbled notes. "Whether or not many of them work is up to debate."

"Of course," L said.

"But there is precedent in historical documents that names have power."

"That's been a belief for a long time."

_What about Shinigami?_ he wanted to ask.

"As for Shinigami...maybe I know a little more after all."

He found the page he was looking for. Then he placed the book on the table and turned it to face L.

The page bore a sketchy ink drawing of a thin figure with huge wings and a grotesque face. There was a long, thin instrument in one of its hands, and a black rectangle in the other.

"I found this in one of the digs I was involved in. It was painted on a wall in a catacomb. Back then, I thought the stick was a wand, and the rectangle was some sort of funerary box."

L licked his lips, feeling a bit nervous. That looked more like a Death Note and a pen to him.

"Now I'm not sure," Yugi said, staring with a furrowed brow at the page. "I couldn't find any other information about this creature or what it was holding. I couldn't find any other mentions of it. Just one tomb. One painting."

"And this inscription?" L asked.

Yugi looked up at him.

"'Beware the one that carries Death,'" he said. "I thought it meant Anubis, but this figure doesn't have a jackal's head – nor does it look like Osiris, Apep, or any other Egyptian god."

L nodded.

"So...an ancient Egyptian Shinigami?" he said. "I'm sorry, Mutou-san, but this is not a particularly helpful entry."

Yugi turned the page. There were more figures, figures that looked remarkably familiar. They, too, were drawn in a traditional Egyptian style, with the head and legs in profile and the chest facing out. But it was the subject of the figures that were most interesting: one appeared to be clad all in robes with a point hat...a female with flipped up hair and a matching pointy hat...a very Celtic looking figure holding a sword...a strange little puffball with large eyes.

"These look like Duel Monsters," L said.

"You picked up on that quick," Yugi said, nodding. "I was the only one on the dig who recognized the figures."

"Pegasus said his game was inspired by ancient Egypt."

Yugi smiled tiredly.

"I met Pegasus once," he said. "And he told me that it wasn't just an inspiration. It was the entire basis. These monsters were – and are – real."

L's lips tightened. He was not interested in where this was going.

"The figure from the last page was the only one I couldn't identify. The rest can be found in Duel Monsters forms," Yugi said. "But most importantly..."

He flipped the page, and there was a photograph taped inside. This showed the entire wall that he had been drawing pictures from, lit with a torch. The Duel Monster lookalikes were surrounding the larger, thin dark figure that carried the Death Note.

"The inscriptions around it were mostly chipped away. From what I could read, there was a war between these spirits," Yugi said. "But I don't know who won, and I don't know what these creatures have to do with each other. I don't know what happened to the Shinigami-like figure."

L shook his head.

"Thank you," he said. "I think I understand enough now."

Yugi laid the notebook down on the desk. L stepped back. This conversation had gotten him nowhere. There was no scientific basing for any of this – he had wasn't his time, and perhaps risked himself unduly for a pointless endeavor.

"Thank you for your time."

Yugi nodded.

"Feel free to stop again, at any time," he said. "Good luck."

L half smiled, and shuffled away from the room. He heard a soft jingle from behind him as he stepped out of the door.

"Hello?" he heard Yugi said. "Oh, Seto."

L paused. Then he stepped just out of sight behind the wall, remaining by the door to listen.

"I figured you must have said something," Yugi said, a slight laugh to his tone. "I just met with someone from the task force...yes, him. Of course I knew who he was. No one else has a soul like that."

L stiffened slightly. Dammit, what had he gotten himself into? What was Yugi talking about, and what did it mean? Was Yugi the second Kira, and did he know that he was L? For a moment, he ran through all the possibilities – Yugi could be the second Kira, Kaiba could be the first and L might have just shown himself to the only person that could kill him. He forced himself to calm down.

"What do I think of him?" Yugi said. "I think that he's probably the best ally we're ever going to get. If anyone can catch Kira, it's him. His soul is the strongest I've seen since Atem – he just has to start believing in magic."

L blinked. He relaxed a little, but turned his ear a little more closely to the conversation. There was a brief pause. Yugi laughed slightly.

"If I could convert you, I think I can convince anyone," he said.

Another pause.

"Yes, Ryo's apartment was broken into again."

The boy's voice had changed; there was no lightness anymore.

"No, he's fine. He wasn't home at the time. He's staying with me at the game shop now – but we're going to have to be a lot more careful, Seto."

The conversation silenced for a moment as Yugi listened to the other end.

"Don't think your security's going to stop him. He broke into KaibaCorp once before. ….No, don't do that. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Mokuba and Noa; their school is close to the college. The best thing we can do is keep practicing. He's biding his time...but he's getting impatient, and you know it."

L shifted a little ways from the door – it sounded like Yugi was getting a bit closer, and he didn't want to be caught eavesdropping.

"No," Yugi said suddenly, sharply, so that it made L jump. "No, Seto. You have to stay on the task force – you may be the only hope we have of keeping him from getting that damn notebook."

He listened, and then laughed darkly.

"Don't we all wish?" he said.

L had heard enough. He ducked into another empty classroom and waited until Yugi had passed him. He stepped back into the hallway.

"Who...were they talking about?" he wondered aloud.


End file.
